They just don’t get it, part umpteen

The Sci Fi Channel wants to change their name in order to appeal to a broader audience. Talk about totally missing the point… You should go *more* niche-y, not less. Podcasts are a great example of this. There are tons of podcasts out there for just about any niche. Yes, they aren’t making anyone millionaires or anything, but the advertising that those podcasts have are ultra-targeted to willing audiences (for the most part). Making the Sci Fi channel more accessible to people who claim they don’t like sci-fi is absolutely stupid. You’ll just end up with lowest-common-denominator programming which will alienate your core audience. Do you think you’re doing your fan base any good when you quote things like this?

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.

“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”

How do clueless idiots like this get as far as they do? It’s unfathomable. Once Battlestar Galactica is gone, I doubt there’ll be any programming on Sci Fi that will appeal to me, name change or not. They’ve already pissed off BSG fans by jerking the schedule around and prolonging the end of the show for no good reason. Combine this with their misguided notions that a name change and “more accessible” programming will make them profitable, and you can see that Sci Fi is going to meet its maker sooner rather than later. Hit up the article link and read the comment thread. A lot of people are making my arguments for me, in more eloquent terms. 😛